A rose for Piper
by Flippityflop
Summary: Jason's obliviousness to Piper's affection doesn't go unnoticed by a tired Leo wing man Valdez and Annabeth Chase,who misses Percy's presence by her side . One-shot.


**I wanted my first story to be big and wild,with little ka-booms to my readers hearts,but refrained from it since I'm a beginner and beginners need to start small so here is my first one-shot. Enjoy!**

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A camp only known to few,Camp Half-blood, held many first year campers in bright orange hustling to train as the crack of sunlight gave way for them to leave their cabins peck-less from women with beaks and colored wings on night guard. Though,harpies were never hard to bribe around there nowadays. Since the end of a war from a couple months ago, the harpies have slacked on punishing the campers to save the last ones standing. There were fewer of the few campers who lived at camp year round,but there were three additional campers who came back safely from a quest at the very least. One of which caught the attention of many onlookers.

The son of a Roman Zeus,Jupiter, Jason Grace. A feat in itself. The boy had blue eyes like the day before night approached,a certain static of leadership furrowed his brows above his circular glasses. He dressed in the same orange uniformitarian camp shirt and basketball shorts hung down to the knees. His short blonde hair moved in the direction the wind did,but he held his head up with a dashing smile.

It could have possibly been the fact that he received an abundance of shoes with pairs in his room the other day,but really,he was glad to even be alive. Even with few candid memories of his past life,he held himself up to work on the day head-on,going in to the direction of the mess hall to fuel himself before he could train.

"I smell fake admiration in full bloom."

His best friend of topical humour caught up to him through a run-walk sort of deal,a blend of trying to sneak up on the hero and not wearing themselves out too harshly. He loosely clasped on to Jason's shoulder to catch a quick breath before letting go.

The son of Jupiter's best friend,Leo Valdez,was one of the questers too,but he didn't look like a war hero who survived to tell the story. Unlike most first years,his duties were not on the field but rather the workshop. He looked like a decaffeinated elf roasted like a marshmallow at the moment. His pointy ears perked up with sunken in brown eyes usually twitching with a flame, his chipmunk cheeks ruddy with smudge marks. The boy usually has an even tan skin color all over,but he had a couple decorative soot marks,but no burns or wrinkles. Matching those decorations was a slick smile matching his sleek oil stains and dirtied up working apron clung tight on his waist by his trusted yellow tool belt. Beneath the apron he wore a long-sleeved white shirt and dark blue,sturdy jeans hitting the floor. He pulled safety goggles off his wild curly hair to tinker with as he talked to help stimulate and keep his brain from dying. It distracted the both of them,but Jason didn't mind.

"Really?"The blue eyed boy asked. He didn't get the joke.

"I hear around the bunker a couple fangirls are treating you the same way they've treated their lost hero." The shorter of the two best friends dubbed themselves as a Wingman of the Jiper community. He wanted to say _The Wingman_ ,but Aphrodite kept the title. He was just the physically seen wing man. Regardless of wingman hierarchy,a wingman is to always sniff out information un-said,and snip out the weeds from all parties.

"Percy Jackson?"the blond mused,looking up occasionally to not bump into anything. He was more alert than a sleep deprived Leo,and pushed the curly haired boy in the direction of the mess hall a few kilometers away from them. Jason knew enough that Percy was pretty much the guy who picked up after the gods in this camp. A celebrity hero.

The other nodded,caught up in his thoughts. "Yeah,that guy. Let's try to not be like that guy." Which isn't too hard for Leo. He's seen a picture of Percy and Annabeth,and with all the stories going around about him,Leo felt he was nothing like that guy or his friend. They were upheld as heavenly models ready to be oh so heroic.

"I'm not that guy though."Jason addressed the allegation. He was Jason Grace,not the Percy Jackson substitute.

"I know you're not this Perc dude,but you gotta remember where your interest should be at while we're sorting things out-", Leo looked up in time to step in to the mess hall with his grubby thick-leather boots and pointed over to the Aphrodite table with a few of Aphrodite's children socializing.

Jason re-adjusted his glasses,getting a better look at his view,spotting the location pointed. There were children of Aphrodite. A few showcasing jewelry they have,but a few more,the observant teen noticed,were holding movie posters up in front of someone else who had their head engulfed in posters.

It seemed like movies from the mortal world he has never seen. Piper,a friend of Jason's,did mention a couple times they should catch up on some movies with Tristan Mclean, since he was uncultured.

He admired that about Piper,she was thinking ahead in case they survive for the future to live out in the mortal world. Looking in all directions on any field is key. If his goal is the mortal world and survival,he should at least put some effort in understanding what's out there.

"Oh,I get it," Jason nodded his head.

Leo smirked,nudging the more toned hero on the arm. Now he was getting it.

"I should learn about the mortals more." No,he was not getting it. The hard working smith closed his eyes and winced.

"Never mind"- Leo put his goggles back on his head and scowled,"I've gotta go to my table."

He headed over to the Hephaestus table where he found much larger,bulkier siblings scarfing down on food. Jason too sat down at his designated table,and found no siblings in sight,not that he had expected anything. To his surprise he found a couple of flowers and other trinkets sprawled out on the table with little drawings attached.

"You seem quite popular around camp."A wood nymph,a dryad,remarked. Jason blushed.

"I don't know what to say. These are quite lovely."

"How about you eat first?"The dryad asked. She had a translucent,yet green-ish color to her skin with thin vines wrapping around her limbs like a detailed spider webbing. Her hands seemed calloused,but instead of hardened skin there was bark holding on to a plate of food.

Jason nodded,looking down at his flowers. He didn't think he was that great.

"You know",she chirped,"Percy Jackson in this situation would set aside the nicer gifts for his parents,and the things his girlfriend likes."

The dryad placed the plate full of vegetables,sliced apples,bacon and brown rice in front of Jason with a goblet.

"I don't have parents."

Zeus didn't count,neither did his counterpart. Hera,Zeus's wife,already had enough attention from Jason and Juno was no exception.

"Not even a mortal mother?"

Silence spoke for him.

"No?",the dryad bemused,"I guess there is a difference between you and the son of Neptune." The off set comment startled Jason.

"Correction,son of Poseidon." A steel like voice that could only come from Annabeth Chase interrupted.

The dryad locked eyes with the daughter of Athena for a brave moment before letting go,bowing. The waitress nymph continued on with her job at another table as Annabeth sat down across from Jason.

Annabeth Chase was someone to never mess with. The children of Athena had no 'big' powers,but Annabeth had a special stare down with her grey eyes that made anyone uncomfortable. Like Jason,she had blonde hair as did all Athenian children,but hers were curly. She was taller than many,reaching 5'10 feet,but her clothes,a camp shirt and jean shorts,didn't make her seem gigantic. Annabeth was not a first year told by the many beads on her camp necklace,but she was early to breakfast and training.

Jason tensed up as Annabeth stared at him. He spoke,"Annabeth,you're breaking the rules. No one is-"

"Roman rules are different from Greek rules."the Athenian cabin leader cut in. "If we are to find Percy,I'll have to rely on … you."That last part was hard for her to get out.

The son of Jupiter's never met the son of Poseidon,and yet,it's all anyone talks to him about nowadays.

He dug in to the food,swishing water to the top of his goblet. "I'll try to work as fast as I can to get to him."

They had discussed multiple times Jason was the key to Percy's appearance, and though the idea of a Roman camp holding him down seemed ridiculous,it was also ridiculous that Jason had been the answer to her prayers. But here they were... Sometimes,he knew the blonde would be there to check on Jason just to make sure he too wouldn't disappear. It made him wonder if there was someone out there missed him too.

He looked up at Annabeth re-arranging the presents delicately. To him,she was putting groups together at random,but to her,she was putting it in the order it needed to be,keeping her mind and hands busy. After she felt content and Jason was done eating,she had glanced over her shoulder at the view.

"The sea's beautiful,isn't it?"

Jason didn't understand the tension he felt coming from the Athenian cabin leader,but he felt a sort of pity towards her and nodded. The child of Zeus looked over to Leo for help,a bit uncomfortable.

Annabeth looked back at Jason with that fierce stare down. She had it on so naturally,yet it scared him more than he'd like to admit,"- you've got two shoes now."

"Yeah." He didn't know what else to say.

"You received a lot of presents out of nowhere." She noted,looking down at the piles of flowers and presents in front of her. She had placed the boxes and small trinkets in one pile with a variety of flowers in order of color and another rule he hadn't figured out.

"Is it that noticeable?"

"Don't be surprised. A heroes title makes anyone look like gold." She remarked.

"Isn't that a good thing?"Jason asked as he pushed his glasses up that had slid down to the tip of his nose while he was eating.

By now most campers had left for training or other activities. The Aphrodite and Hermes table still had an almost full table,but the rest had very few.

"No."She chuckled as if it was a good joke,"No, it's not good."

"I don't understand the problem,then." Jason was confused on how being golden in others eyes could be bad. He,quite frankly,didn't care too much what others thought about,but he does like the image he has.

"A needle in a haystack. When you're a golden boy in others eyes,how will you know which eyes look for you and not your title?"

"Oh." He wanted to sound like he knew what he was saying,but he was more confused. He lost track of her thoughts.

She could have pointed out who exactly was right for him,stamp her name on his head and call it a day,but decided to not embarrass a certain Aphrodite child. Instead,Annabeth pushed an abundance of roses in front of him.

Truthfully,she sat there in hopes of Jason having any new information on her Percy like she has done in the past,but she remembered how oblivious Percy was and how Jason is now. The problem was all too repetitive,but this time it wasn't her problem,but she had the answers or at least the algorithm to help.

"If you had to give one to...",she feigned searching and nodded her head over to the Aphrodite table,"Piper,which one would you give?"

"The whole thing."

"Pick one." She repeated.

He looked over his choices,and truthfully he didn't think Piper was in to roses,but he picked one anyways.

"Why pick the white one?" She questioned,"There are so many other colors you could have chosen."

He didn't miss a beat."She already has all those colors,except for this one." Once he said the word colors he pointed to his eyes. He didn't want to admit it,but he did look in to Pipers eyes enough amount of times to notice the changes of hues were in a constant swirl.

The meddling daughter of Athena kept the smirk hidden beneath the stern look. "You like her, don't you? I won't tell anyone." He seemed uncertain.

"Sub Rosa."

The Latin phrase put the two demigods on the same page for once. "Under the rose."Jason translated as he picked the flower up gently,making sure to not touch the thorns. At every meeting in order to make sure information was kept secret,the Romans would put roses above the door entrance. What was said under the rose would be kept secret.

Annabeth agreed,"I'll pretend I don't know anything."

"You speak Latin?"

"Stay focused."The Athenian demigod scolded. ADD,ADHD- focus was vital if demigods weren't on top of their A game. Small things tend to trip them up.

"Right,but I don't necessarily -"

She scratched the floor with the table as she stood up,making sure her latch to her holder kept in tact with the dagger still in place. "Before you say anything regretful,give that to her."

"Is that an order?"

"It will be if you can't get your act together."

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 **This doesn't sound like much of a one-shot now that I look back at it,but I hope the chapter suffices your taste in stories.**


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